IMPROVING QUALITY BY IMPLEMENTING LEAN MANUFACTURING, SPC, AND HACCP IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Interest in ensuring the safety of food for human consumption has grown considerably owing to the economic impact of returns on products that do not meet the organoleptic characteristics that customers require. The presence of pollutants and reduced shelf life are the most common problems affecting food quality. This research applied the improving quality to a food SME company belonging to the ‘fourth range’ sub-sector based on lean manufacturing tools, statistical process control (SPC), and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system. The Lean tools that were applied are value stream map and 5s. The value stream maps (VSMs) to identify the operations most at risk of cross-contamination in the supply chain, and use 5S to prevent the contamination and decomposition of products in work areas. The statistical process control allows the variability of products to be controlled with respect to consumer quality parameters; and HACCP insures food safety through the control of critical points of contamination risk. A pilot project was carried out for two months, which resulted in a reduction of product returns by 89.2%.